


Caught in a Storm

by linndechir



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-12-27 03:10:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21111704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linndechir/pseuds/linndechir
Summary: Alexios hated rain, especially when he got caught in a storm in the middle of winter. Fortunately he wasn't alone this time.





	Caught in a Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wednesday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesday/gifts).

Alexios hated rain. He hated it on the best of days, because even in summer he preferred a proper cool bath to getting soaked from above, and he hated it out at sea, and most of all he hated it when it was winter and already freezing cold and he was traipsing through a forest, slipping on wet leaves and stumbling over fallen branches, and he was so miserably soaked and cold that even having Brasidas with him didn’t improve his mood. If anything, it made it worse. He didn’t see Brasidas often enough as it was – rarely more than once every few months when Alexios’ travels and Brasidas’ war brought them into the same region – and he would have liked to spend the evening sitting together by a warm fire, drinking a bit more wine than good Spartans should, catching up and joking around and laughing well into the night.

The storm had caught them all by surprise. The sky had gone from blue to grey to pitch black within minutes, while Brasidas and Alexios had been scouting ahead for Brasidas’ unit. Alexios suspected that Brasidas quite enjoyed Alexios’ rare visits – he would never neglect his duties, he was far too Spartan for that, but he still seemed to welcome the excuse to spend time with someone other than his men, to forget about being their commander for a few hours. Alexios hoped that today’s events wouldn’t change his mind about that. 

From one moment to the next it had been pouring as if Poseidon was emptying out the seas over their heads, the wind was so strong that walking straight ahead was all but impossible, and the air was so thick with rain one could barely see a few steps ahead. Alexios had put his hand on Brasidas’ shoulder – both for support and because he was worried they’d lose each other – and they’d stumbled ahead blindly, hoping to find shelter somewhere.

And just once in this whole mess they’d been lucky, because they’d eventually stumbled upon an old logger’s hut in the middle of the forest. It was empty and dark, and Alexios quickly managed to shove open the door so they could get inside. It wasn’t much warmer, but at least they were protected from the downpour once they’d pushed the door shut behind them. The hut seemed abandoned, but not like it was completely out of use. Maybe someone only stayed here in summer. 

Behind him Brasidas cursed under his breath, and for the first time Alexios turned to look at him. He was soaked, his legs splattered with mud, and he was shaking a little from the cold, but his eyes were bright and he flashed a brief smile at Alexios when their eyes met.

“I think you’re the only man I know who would have found shelter in this storm,” Brasidas said.

“Nothing but luck,” Alexios said, but he smiled, too. Brasidas brought it out in him. He’d always been able to improve even the most dire situation through his presence.

“Mhm. If a man keeps getting lucky that often, he may have to accept that the gods favour him.”

With those words Brasidas started stripping, and for a moment Alexios could do nothing but stare. It was perfectly sensible of course – every bit of fabric on both their bodies was soaked and hanging their clothes up to dry was the obvious course of action – but it still felt like something from Alexios’ fevered nightly fantasies. Brasidas coming to him, smiling that damned easy smile of his, and then taking off his clothes without Alexios even having to ask him to … 

Alexios bent down to distract himself by making a small fire in the chimney. The hut must have been used regularly enough that he found everything he needed, and very soon a small fire was crackling in the hearth, lighting up the room and slowly starting to chase the cold. Then he stripped out of his own clothes and armour. When he looked up, Brasidas was standing just a few feet from him, arms stretching to hang up his tunic and loincloth, the firelight playing on his tanned skin, the curve of his arse perfectly round and unbearably enticing. Naked and beautiful as if Aphrodite had come down from the skies to carve him for Alexios’ pleasure, and entirely unselfconscious when he turned to flash Alexios another smile. Spartans. They spent so much of their childhood and youth almost entirely naked that they forgot to be embarrassed about it, and it wasn’t as if Brasidas had anything to be embarrassed about.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon,” Brasidas said. He stepped closer to the fire and rubbed his hands together, but there were goosebumps all over his skin. The air in the hut was still freezing. Alexios hung up his own clothes, then joined him again by the fire. He tried not to look at him too much, but it was hard to keep his gaze from straying.

“Your men are going to worry,” he said. Losing their commander never looked good, and Alexios knew that Brasidas was popular among his soldiers, too. It was far from surprising. Brasidas was charming, charismatic, likeable. In some ways he was everything Alexios would have imagined a Spartan general to be, but at the same time he was nothing like it.

“They have enough sense not to try and look for me in this weather.” Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the rain was almost so loud on the hut’s roof that they had to raise their voices a little. “I don’t think Zeus is pleased,” Brasidas added with a small smile.

“When is he ever,” Alexios mumbled. “You are taking this well.”

Brasidas shrugged. “It could be worse. It could be snowing. I could have broken my ankle in that mud out there. Or I could be stuck here with someone I like far less than you, Eagle-bearer.”

He winked at Alexios, reached out to squeeze his shoulder. His hand was cold and damp and the touch should have been unpleasant, but Alexios still wished it had lingered for a moment or two. Brasidas’ skin glistened from the rain, his muscles played beautifully underneath it, and it was all Alexios could do to keep himself from pulling him close. He’d wanted Brasidas almost since he’d met him, but he didn’t usually make a habit of sleeping with men he intended to see again. He’d done that back on Kephalonia and it had always complicated things in ways he didn’t enjoy. No, pleasure and friendship were best kept separate, but Brasidas made it so very hard to remember that specific rule Alexios had set for himself.

“There’s only one cot, but I think we can both fit,” Brasidas said after turning away from him. Alexios’ heart thumped in his chest. He wasn’t quite sure if this was a dream anymore or some kind of nightmare, especially when Brasidas added, “Which we probably should or we’ll freeze something off before morning.”

“I’m sure I can handle a bit of cold,” Alexios protested weakly, but he knew Brasidas was right. It _was_ cold, despite the fire, and he was tired enough that the idea of sleeping on the wooden floor with nothing but a blanket didn’t appeal. Brasidas unfolded the stack of blankets on the cot – they’d really have to leave a few coins in the morning for whoever it was whose hut they were dirtying up – and then lay down, making himself as small as a man his size possibly could. There wasn’t much room left, and Alexios felt the heat rising into his cheeks. Brasidas was looking up at him, expectantly almost, and then he – he looked Alexios over from head to toe and back up, his eyes lingering in a way that only made Alexios flush more. There was no denying the intent in that look, and how was Alexios supposed to behave if Brasidas apparently didn’t even want him to?

“Come here, or have you been frozen to the ground?” Brasidas was still smiling, his eyes twinkling in the shine of the fire. As relaxed as if this was a simple, common thing, as if they spent every other night together in bed with nothing between them. Oh, how Alexios wished that were the case.

“You might end up regretting this,” he said with a levity he didn’t quite feel, and joined Brasidas under the blankets. It was awkward at first – the cot was far too small for two grown men, especially two warriors who weren’t exactly narrow and thin – and they spent a good minute shifting around, knees and elbows bumping into each other. Eventually Brasidas gave up on trying to avoid touching him, but simply put his hands on Alexios’ sides to manoeuvre him where he wanted him – on his side, facing Brasidas, their legs entangled and Brasidas’ arm sneaking around Alexios now to pull him closer. His skin still felt cold, but underneath it his body was warm and hard and irresistible, and Alexios already felt his cock stir.

He tried to shift away to keep Brasidas from noticing, but it was already too late, and Brasidas’ arm held him close. His face was barely a finger’s breadth from Alexios’ – he’d tried to rub his beard and hair at least a little bit dry, but there were still water drops spilling over his face, and after a moment’s hesitation Alexios wiped one off Brasidas’ cheek with his thumb.

“You know, suggesting that we ‘keep each other warm’ is quite possibly the oldest trick to get a man to share his blankets with you,” Alexios said with a chuckle. He’d never been any good at keeping his mouth shut when he got excited.

“Oh, are they your blankets?” Brasidas said. His hand was rubbing over Alexios’ back, firm enough to warm them both. His leg moved, too, thigh slipping between Alexios’ legs, his foot rubbing against Alexios’ shin. It was slowly getting warmer underneath the blankets, but Brasidas’ face was still so very cold under Alexios’ fingertips. He kept touching it now, retracing the scar on his cheek, brushing gently over his damp beard. 

“I found the hut, you said so yourself. So that makes them my blankets, and you my guest,” Alexios said. Maybe this was a bad idea, something he’d regret the next time he ran into Brasidas and Brasidas didn’t meet his eyes anymore, but all that seemed to matter so little right now. Alexios had never seen the point of denying himself when he might die any day. Maybe it was the thundering storm outside, but they seemed so far cut off from the rest of the world that consequences seemed like a problem for a far away future.

“Mhm,” Brasidas said, and when Alexios moved his hand a little bit lower to his neck, he could feel the sound vibrate through his skin. He brushed his thumb over Brasidas’ throat, tightened his grip a little bit to pull him closer still until their lips almost met. “Suggesting that I owe you _favours_ because you offered me shelter is quite possibly the only older trick than suggesting we keep each other warm.”

The air between them was hot now, warmed by their breath, and Alexios’ cock twitched lightly against Brasidas’ hip. There was so little room on the cot that he doubted they’d be able to _do_ much without kicking off all the blankets and quite possibly landing on the cold floor, but when it came to Brasidas, Alexios doubted he would have to do much to feel entirely satisfied.

“Oh, we can play this however you like,” Alexios said, his voice barely more than a whisper at this point. He didn’t add that playing games didn’t seem all that necessary to him when he was already half drunk on the idea of having Brasidas at all, no matter how.

He closed the last inch of distance between them, felt the damp brush of Brasidas’ beard against his chin, and then he finally kissed him. He’d wanted to be tentative about it, careful, and forgot about that intention even more quickly than about any plans to keep his hands off Brasidas tonight. He bit his lip instead, did it again when a low groan encouraged him, and the next thing he knew Brasidas was pulling Alexios on top of him, limbs entwining underneath the blankets, lips locked in a hungry, breathless kiss.

The air was still cold in the hut and the storm was still raging outside, but Alexios wasn’t feeling the slightest bit cold anymore. And for once he didn’t quite manage to be mad at the weather, if it had contributed to getting him something he’d desperately wanted for so long.


End file.
